Last Week

So, here's some stuff we did last week.

Wednesday was Chinese New Year's Eve, so we had a traditional feast with this for dessert:



Mmmmmm... Eight Precious Pudding. Lots of sweet sticky rice, lots of red bean paste, lots of candied fruits and nuts and even carrots. I loved it! I was crazy sick Tuesday and Wednesday, but I couldn't NOT make the awesome feast I had planned. :)

Friday was Joshua's birthday, so I pretty much spent the whole day on - again - dessert:



Dinner was provided by the Cub Scouts, since that night was our Blue & Gold Banquet. Also at the pack meeting, Joshua got a belt loop for volleyball, and Ben received a bunch of pins AND his Arrow of Light award! No pictures, because we had pre-arranged with the leadership to just hand it over quietly (and nobody gets hurt, see?) instead of making him go through the whole ceremony. Ah, stage fright. How you cling so. Anyway, that means Ben is now no longer a Cub Scout, and he moves into that glorious limbo world of 11YO Scouts.

Saturday was a long-awaited trip to Chinatown to see their much-ballyhooed Dragon Parade (to celebrate the new year).

We saw:


The Lion Dancers blessing a popular (even moreso after it was blessed) restaurant


with firecrackers. Then we pretty much just shopped until the parade started. Of course, in the parade we saw:


Dragons,


kung fu,


more dragons,


cute dragons,


scary dragons,


bands (some with money,


some without money),


bearded dragons,


bored kids,


golden dragons,


more bored kids,


Chinatown Mafia (we assume - every elected official in the parade had to wave big at these guys, and don't they just look like they could have you killed on a whim?),


bands with... bagpipes? K....


mariachi bands... um...


Alright! More dragons!


kids who could kick my hiney,


Chinese opera dudes in drag, wearing quite possibly the worst parade shoes ever,


twin dragons,


creepy dancing clowns, and children in fur suits who hopefully have lawyers (it was a warm day),


and, of course, dragon tushies.

Not pictured: the largest entry in the Chinese New Year Dragon Parade, the gay pride/equal marriage rights crowd. No joke, there were more of them than any other group in the parade. No dragons, no Gung Hay Fat Choy, just lots and lots of rainbow flags. *sigh*

Looks fun in this format, but it was a good two hours of sitting in the sun and, for a good chunk of the time, watching the parade stand completely still while inexperienced float drivers tried to turn a rather tight corner. The kids were troopers, all things considered, but they were wicked bored. You've seen one dragon chasing a lollipop, you've seen them all, is their new motto.

Sunday was Super Indexing Sunday, and since Joseph stayed home sick and I had the lighter load of responsibility at church, I stayed home with him and indexed my little heart out! Got 404 names done, and it was a total blast.

I heard there was maybe also some kind of sporting event happening then? Huh.

Anyway, back to the grind!